James Marc Beverly, Busteni, Romania

Ice Climbing and the Hope of Sochi Olympic Flame

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Where/When: Sochi, Russia, 23-24 Feb 2014

Ice climbing will be making a debut at the Winter Olympics. It’s the hope of the UIAA that an Olympic Movement and demonstration at the Olympic Village will help spark the Olympic Flame to become a full-medal sport in 2018.

North America (and the Western Hemisphere) will be represented by a small handful of World Cup Ice climbing athletes:

USA: Marc Beverly, Erin Weber.

Canada: Gordon McArthur, and Jen Olson.

The listed athletes are the highest ranked in UIAA world cup standings, or have the most competition experience of all the climbers who applied to represent their respective countries. Clearly, there are many good athletes, but what separates this list from the rest is the overwhelming support of World Cup competition ice climbing in the past, and drive to support the future of this sport through its evolution.

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UIAA 2014 World Cup Circuit:

 

  • Cheongsong, South Korea                 January 11-12, 2014
  • Busteni, Romania                                  January 16-18, 2014
  • Saas Fee, Switzerland                          January 24-25, 2014
  • Champagny en Vanoise, France     Jan.31- Feb.1, 2014
  • Rabenstein, Italy                                  February 7-9, 2014
  • Sochi, Russia                                           February 13-23, 2014
  • Ufa, Russia                                               February 28, 2014

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Honestly, this could help all climbers in global recognition of the sport and the spirit of climbing, even though climbing takes many forms (alpine, bouldering, sport, traditional, ice, mixed rock and ice, etc…).

I have recently become the latest, and only Western, representative on the UIAA Ice Climbing Commission. I have a dream that the USA will be able to sponsor our youth and promote mixed rock and ice climbing on a grand scale.

Check out my Sponsor page, and help support the construction of an mixed climbing-specific wall that I hope everyone will be able to use, as there is presently no training center for mixed climbers in the USA.

I share the passion for ice climbing with all the other competition athletes. We all strive to be our best. Help the movement with good energy, financial support, or whatever you can, to evoke a propagation of mixed rock and ice climbing in the present and ultimately, to the future, where the Olympic dream is possible.

 

Turning of the Page

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Welcome to the newly renovated BMG web site ! 

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As you can see, we are in the process of transferring and updating a massive amount of information to our new site, so please be patient with us during this transition time.

Obviously, since the first snow in September, people already have the AVI bug and have been inquiring about our avalanche courses. But at the same time, the sun still warms our Southwestern crags as the foliage begins to change color, offering outstanding opportunities to get in some excellent guided climbing or gain insight and experience from one of our courses.

One of the major changes is that Strike Rescue Courses have been formally absorbed by BMG. This is a part of our corporate structure that will be fully consolidated by 2014.

Another change is that our store will not only be our registration site, but will also be the site where our guests can order some of best equipment available at a discount. That’s right, we want you to succeed and  one of the best ways to do that is get the right gear for the job. We’re making it easy. If there’s something you don’t see, simply let us know and we will try to accommodate you. We don’t compete with the big warehouses or do bidding, we just carry what we think is the best.

A new look doesn’t mean that we’ve forgotten our roots. We hope you will enjoy the new site, find it easier to navigate, and be useful in your daily life for weather, ski reports, equipment updates, and follow our crew on their own ventures that will hopefully inspire you to be the best you can be.

 

Best,

Marc Beverly